Power semiconductor structure with schottky diode and fabrication method thereof

ABSTRACT

A power semiconductor structure with schottky diode is provided. In the step of forming the gate structure, a separated first polysilicon structure is also formed on the silicon substrate. Then, the silicon substrate is implanted with dopants by using the first polysilicon structure as a mask to form a body and a source region. Afterward, a dielectric layer is deposited on the silicon substrate and an open penetrating the dielectric layer and the first polysilicon structure is formed so as to expose the source region and the drain region below the body. The depth of the open is smaller than the greatest depth of the body. Then, a metal layer is filled into the open to electrically connect to the source region and the drain region.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional patent application of co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 12/821,501, filed on 23 Jun. 2010, now pending. Theentire disclosure of the prior application, Ser. No. 12/821,501, fromwhich an oath or declaration is supplied, is considered a part of thedisclosure of the accompanying Divisional application and is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a trenched power semiconductorstructure and a fabrication method thereof, and more particularlyrelates to a trenched power semiconductor structure with schottky diodeand a fabrication method thereof.

(2) Description of the Prior Art

In present, the trend in development for trenched power semiconductordevices turns toward the performance of switching speed. The increasingof switching speed is especially helpful for reducing switching loss inhigh-frequency applications. Among various solutions for improvingswitching speed, it is an effective method to add a schottky diode inthe power semiconductor structure.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS)transistor T1 with a schottky diode SD1 to improve switching loss. Asshown, the MOS transistor T1 has a body diode D1 connected to theschottky diode SD1 in parallel. Because the turn-on voltage of theschottky diode SD1 is smaller than that of the body diode D1, thecurrent would be directed from the source electrode S through theschottky diode SD1 to the drain electrode D when the MOS transistor T1becomes forwardly biased, and the body diode D1 would not be conducted.

Because of the minority carriers, the switching of the body diode D1 isquite slow, which may cause unwanted time delay to result in additionalswitching loss. The usage of schottky diode with no minority carrier, isable to improve the problems of time delay and switching loss when thebody diode D1 is conducted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a main object of the present invention to provide amethod to manufacture a trenched power transistor with aparallel-connected schottky diode simultaneously by using the well knownsemiconductor fabrication technologies.

To achieve the above mentioned object, a fabrication method of a powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode is provided. Firstly, apolysilicon layer, which includes at least a polysilicon gate structureand a first polysilicon structure spaced with a predetermined distance,is formed on a silicon substrate. Next, at least a body and at least asource region are formed in the silicon substrate by implanting dopantsthrough the first polysilicon structure. The body is located between thepolysilicon gate structure and the first polysilicon structure, and thesource region is located in the body. Thereafter, a dielectric layer isformed to cover the polysilicon gate structure and the first polysiliconstructure. Then, an open, which is substantially aligned to the firstpolysilicon structure, is formed in the dielectric layer to expose thesilicon substrate below the body. The open at least penetrates thedielectric layer and has a depth smaller than a greatest depth of thebody. Thereafter, a metal layer is filled in the open.

Based on the above mentioned fabrication method, a power semiconductorstructure with schottky diode is provided in the present invention. Thepower semiconductor structure has a silicon substrate, at least apolysilicon gate structure, a first polysilicon structure, at least abody, at least a source region, a dielectric layer, and a metal layer.The polysilicon gate structure and the first polysilicon structure arelocated on the silicon substrate and separated by a predetermineddistance. The body is located in the silicon substrate between thepolysilicon gate structure and the first polysilicon structure, and ispartially shielded by the first polysilicon structure. The source regionis located in the body and is also partially shielded by the firstpolysilicon structure. The dielectric layer covers the polysilicon gatestructure and the first polysilicon structure and has an open extendingto the silicon substrate below the body. The source region is adjacentto the open, and the depth of the open is smaller than a greatest depthof the body. The metal layer is located on the dielectric layer andfilled into the open.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be specified with reference to itspreferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a MOS transistor with a schottkydiode to improve switching loss;

FIGS. 2A to 2E are schematic views showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A to 3B are schematic views showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a thirdembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A to 5B are schematic views showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a fourthembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6E are schematic views showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a fifthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a sixthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a seventhembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 9A to 9B are schematic views showing two different arrangements ofthe cells of the power semiconductor structure with schottky diode inaccordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

It is a main feature of the present invention to adapt the fabricationstep of the polysilicon gate to form a first polysilicon structure onthe silicon substrate, and to define the body and the source region in arange between the first polysilicon structure and the polysilicon gate.The dielectric structure deposited thereon is etched to form an openpenetrating the first polysilicon structure to expose the source regionand the drain region below the body. Thus, the metal layer filled intothe open can be electrically connected to the source region and thedrain region simultaneously so as to form a schottky diode parallelconnected with the power transistor.

FIGS. 2A to 2E are schematic views showing a fabrication method of atrenched power semiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordancewith a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2A,firstly, at least a gate trench 120 is formed in a silicon substrate110. Then, a gate dielectric layer 130 is formed to cover at least theinner surface of the gate trench 120. Thereafter, a polysilicon layer140 is deposited on the exposed surfaces of the silicon substrate 110and fills the gate trenches 120.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the unwanted portion of the polysilicon layer140 is removed by etching to leave at least a gate polysilicon structure142 located in the gate trench 120 and at least a first polysiliconstructure 144 on the upper surface of the silicon substrate 110. Apredetermined distance is kept between the first polysilicon structure144 and the polysilicon gate structure 142. The first polysiliconstructure 144 is utilized to define the range of the body and the sourceregion of the cells.

In the present embodiment, a pattern layer 182 is formed on thepolysilicon layer 140 to define the location of the first polysiliconstructure 144, and the exposed polysilicon layer 140 outside the gatetrench 120 is removed by etching back so as to form the polysilicon gatestructure 142 and the first polysilicon structure 144 in an etchingstep. However, the present invention is not so restricted. The patternlayer 182 for defining the first polysilicon structure 144 may beadapted to define the range of the polysilicon gate structure 142 also,and the polysilicon gate structure 142 may not be totally located in thegate trench 120.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2C, by using the first polysiliconstructure 144 as a mask, an ion implantation step is carried out toimplant dopants of first conductive type into the silicon substrate 110such that at least a body 150 is formed between the polysilicon gatestructure 142 and the first polysilicon structure 144. The depth profileof the body 150 is gradually declined from the sidewall of the gatetrench 120 toward the first polysilicon structure 144 and a portion ofthe body 150 is located right below the first polysilicon structure 144.That is, the body 150 is partially shielded by the first polysiliconstructure 144. It is also noted that, in accordance with the presentembodiment, two isolated bodies 150 are formed corresponding to the bothsides of the first polysilicon structure 144.

Next, by using the first polysilicon structure 144 as the implantingmask, another ion implantation step is carried out to implant dopants ofsecond conductive type to the silicon substrate 110 such that at least asource region 160 is formed in the body 150. In addition, a portion ofthe source region 160 is also located right below the first polysiliconstructure 144. The above mentioned first conductive type and secondconductive type may be P-type and N-type respectively. But the presentinvention is not so restricted. The first conductive type and the secondconductive type may be N-type and P-type also. As mentioned above,although the body 150 and the source region 160 are both defined byusing the first polysilicon structure 144, the range of the sourceregion 160 can be limited in the body 150 by adequately adjusting theparameters of the implanting process and the following drive-in process.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2D, a dielectric layer 170 is formed to cover thepolysilicon gate structure 142, the first polysilicon structure 144, andthe exposed surfaces of the silicon substrate 110. Thereafter, an open172 is formed in the dielectric layer 170 by etching. The open 172 issubstantially aligned to the first polysilicon structure 144 andpenetrates at least the dielectric layer 170 and the first polysiliconstructure 144 to expose the source region 160 therebelow. Because thewidth of the first polysilicon structure 144 is greater than that of theopen 172, a portion of the first polysilicon structure 144′ is remainedon the sidewall of the open 172. In addition, in the present embodiment,the bottom of the open 172 is located in the silicon substrate 110 belowthe body 150, which can be regarded as the drain region. Although thebottom of the open 172 should be located below the body 150, the depthd1 of the open 172 can be smaller than the greatest depth d2 of the body150 because of the depth profile of the body 150, which shows that thedepth of the body 150 right below the first polysilicon structure 144 ismuch smaller than the body 150 adjacent to the gate trench 120.

Also referring to FIG. 2D, when the open is formed in the dielectriclayer 170, a contact window 174 for exposing the body 150 is also formedin the dielectric layer 170. The open 172 is then shielded by a patternlayer 184 and an ion implantation step is carried out to selectivelyimplant dopants of first conductive type into the contact window 174 toform a heavily doped region 152 at the bottom of the contact window 174.Finally, as shown in FIG. 2E, a metal layer 190 is deposited on thedielectric layer 170 and also fills the open 172 and the contact window174. The metal layer 190 in the contact window 174 is electricallyconnected to the body through the heavily doped region 152, and aschottky diode is formed at the interface between the metal layer 190 inthe open 172 and the silicon substrate 110.

As mentioned above, the fabrication process of the schottky diodeparallel connected to the trenched power transistor can be integrated inthe fabrication processes for forming the trenched power transistor asindicated in the right side of FIGS. 2A to 2E. Thus, the fabricationmethod can be effectively simplified and the fabrication cost can bereduced.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views showing a power semiconductorstructure with schottky diode in accordance with a second embodiment ofthe present invention. In contrast with the first embodiment, whichshows an open 172 and a contact window 174 in the dielectric layer 170,only the open 272 is formed in the dielectric layer 270 according to thepresent embodiment. The open 272, which is utilized for the formation ofthe schottky diode, is also utilized for electrically connecting themetal layer 290 and the body 250.

Referring to FIG. 3A, which shows the fabrication step following thestep of FIG. 2C, an open 272 is formed to penetrate the dielectric layer270 and the first polysilicon structure 244′ after the dielectric layer272 is deposited on the polysilicon gate structure 242, the firstpolysilicon structure 244 and the exposed surface of the siliconsubstrate 210. The width of the open 272 is smaller than the width ofthe first polysilicon structure 244′ before etched. Thus, after theetching process, the open 272 is formed with a portion of the firstpolysilicon structure 244′ left on both sides of the open 272.

Next, by using the etched dielectric layer 270 as a mask, a heavilydoped region 252 is formed in the silicon substrate 210 by selectivelyimplanting dopants of first conductive type into the open 272. Becausethe width of the open 272 is smaller than that of the first polysiliconstructure 244, the influence for the implantation step performed byusing the etched dielectric layer 270 to the source region 260 can beminimized. The depth of the heavily doped region 252 can be controlledby adjusting implanting power such that the heavily doped region 252 issubstantially located below the source region 260 and has at least aportion located in the body 250. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3B, thedepth of the open 272 is extended by etching as indicated by the dashedline, such that the resulted open 272′ has a bottom located below thesource region 260 and the heavily doped region 252. Afterward, a metallayer 270 is deposited over the whole surface of the dielectric layer270 and fills the open 272′.

It is noted that, in the present embodiment, the width of the heavilydoped region 252 is greater than that of the open 272. Thus, a portionof the heavily doped region 252′ is remained on the sidewall of the open272′ after the etching process for extending the depth of the open 272as shown in FIG. 3B is performed. The metal layer 290 filled into theopen 272′ can be electrically connected to the body 250 through theremained heavily doped region 252′ and a schottky diode is formed at thebottom of the open 272′.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a fabrication of the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a thirdembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, which showsthe fabrication process following the step of FIG. 2C, an open 372 isformed in the dielectric layer 370 by etching after the dielectric layer370 is deposited on the polysilicon gate structure 342, the firstpolysilicon structure 344, and the exposed surface of the siliconsubstrate 310. The open 372 penetrates the dielectric layer 370 and thefirst polysilicon structure 344′ and reaches the location below thesource region 360. In addition, the bottom of the open 372 is located inthe silicon substrate 310 below the body 350, which can be regarded asthe drain region. Then, a tilted ion implantation step is carried out toimplant dopants with first conductive type to the body 350 below thesource region 360 such that at least a heavily doped region 352 isformed adjacent to the sidewall and the bottom of the open 372.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic views showing a fabrication method of thepower semiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with afourth embodiment of the present invention. The fabrication process asshown in FIG. 5A is substantially identical to that of FIG. 4, but thefabrication process as shown in FIG. 5B indicates that after the heavilydoped region 452 is formed in the body 450, the open 472 is extendeddownward by using the dielectric layer 470 as an etching mask. Theresulted open 472′ reaches the location below the heavily doped region452, which is indicated by the dashed arrow. As shown, the portion ofthe heavily doped region 452 at the bottom of the open 472 is totallyremoved with the portion 452′ adjacent to the sidewall of the open 472remained.

FIGS. 6A to 6E are schematic views showing a fabrication method of thepower semiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with afifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A shows the fabricationstep following the step of FIG. 2B. As shown, the first polysiliconstructure 544 is utilized as an implanting mask to selectively implantdopants of first conductive type into the silicon substrate 510. Incontrast with the embodiment as shown in FIG. 2C, which features twoseparated bodies 150 located at the both sides of the first polysiliconstructure 144, there is only an integrated body 550 located below thefirst polysilicon structure 544 as shown in FIG. 6A. With the parametersof the ion implantation process and the following drive-in process beingadequately adjusted, the integrated body 550 can be formed in thesilicon substrate 510. Identical to that of the separated bodies 150,the depth profile of the body 550 declines from the sidewall of the gatetrench 520 toward the first polysilicon structure 544. Afterward,another ion implantation process is carried out to implant dopants ofsecond conductive type into the body 550 such that two source regions560 are formed at both sides of the first polysilicon structure 544.Although the integrated body 550 is shown in the present embodiment, thepresent embodiment is not so restricted. There may be two separatedbodies located below the first polysilicon structure 544 also.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, a dielectric layer (not shown) is depositedover all the exposed surfaces and an etching back process is carried outto expose the upper surface of the first polysilicon structure 544. Itis noted that the resulted dielectric structure 570 not only covers thepolysilicon structure 542 within the gate trench 520 but also covers theupper surface of the silicon substrate 510. Thereafter, as shown in FIG.6C, the exposed first polysilicon structure 544 is removed to form anopen 572 in the dielectric structure 570, which exposes the siliconsubstrate 510. Then, a heavily doped region 552 is formed in the body550 by implanting dopants of first conductive type through the open 572.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, spacers 575 are formed on the both sides ofthe open 572 to define a narrow trench 576 at the bottom of the open572. Then, an etching process is carried out by using the spacer as anetching mask to form the narrow trench 576, which is extended from thebottom of the open 572 and penetrates the heavily doped region 552 andthe body 550. In addition, at least a portion of the bottom of thenarrow trench 576 is located in the silicon substrate 510 below the body550, which is regarded as the drain region. That is, the narrow trench576 can be regarded as a lower portion of the open 572, which extendsdownward to the silicon substrate 510 below the body 550.

Because the depth profile of the body 550 is declined from the sidewallof the gate trench 520 toward the first polysilicon structure 544, thedepth d3 of the narrow trench 576, which is located at the bottom of theopen 572 and is utilized to expose the silicon substrate 510 below thebody 550, can be smaller than the greatest depth d4 of the body 550.

As shown in FIG. 6D, the spacer 575 is utilized to adjust the width ofthe narrow trench 576 to make source that at least a portion of theheavily doped region 552′ is remained on both sides of the narrow trench576. In addition, the narrow trench 576 in the present embodiment isaway from the source region 560 and the source region 560 iselectrically connected to the metal layer 590 through the bottom of theopen 572. However, the present invention is not so restricted. With thewidth of the narrow trench 576 being adequately increased by adjustingthe thickness of the spacer 575, the source region 560 can beelectrically connected to the metal layer 590 through both the bottom ofthe open 572 and the sidewall of the narrow trench 576, which is helpfulfor reducing contact resistance.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 6E, a metal layer 590 is deposited over allthe exposed surfaces and fills the narrow trench 576 and the open 572.The metal layer 590 is electrically connected to the body 550 throughthe heavily doped region 552′ and a schottky diode is formed at thebottom of the narrow trench 576.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a fabrication method of a powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a sixthembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows the fabricationprocess following the step of FIG. 6B. As shown, a major differencebetween the present embodiment and the fifth embodiment lies in theformation of the open 672. As shown in FIG. 7, after the firstpolysilicon structure 544 is removed, the remained dielectric structure570 is utilized as an etching mask to form the open 672 with a bottomsubstantially located below the source doped region 560. The sourceregion 560 is adjacent to the sidewall of the open 672. Thereafter, aheavily doped region 652 is formed at the bottom of the open 672 byimplanting dopants of first conductive type to the open 672. Thefollowing process of the fabrication method in accordance with thepresent embodiment is similar to that of the fifth embodiment, which isnot repeated here.

In the above mentioned embodiments, the trenched power semiconductorstructures are used to demonstrate the idea of the present invention.However, the present invention is not so restricted. FIG. 8 is aschematic view showing a fabrication method of the planar powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode in accordance with a seventhembodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the fabricationprocess of the first embodiment is applied to the fabrication process ofthe planar power semiconductor structure. As shown, the major differencebetween the present embodiment and the first embodiment is the locationof the polysilicon gate structure. The polysilicon gate structure 146 ofthe present embodiment is formed on the upper surface of the siliconsubstrate 110 by using lithographic and etching processes. As to theother portion of the power semiconductor structure, the presentembodiment is substantially identical to that of the first embodiment.Similarly, the other embodiments mentioned above can be applied to theplanar power semiconductor structure without question.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are top views showing two different arrangements ofcells in the power semiconductor structure with schottky diode inaccordance with the present invention. The power semiconductor structurein FIG. 9A shows the closed-cell arrangement and the power semiconductorstructure in FIG. 9B shows the striped-cell arrangement. In FIG. 9A, thegates 12 of the power semiconductor structure are arranged in matrix todefine a plurality of small square regions 14 and a plurality of bigsquare regions 15 surrounded by the small square regions 14. The sidelength of the big square region 15 is a multiple of that of the shortsquare region 14. The power semiconductor structure shown in the rightside of FIG. 2E is located in the small square regions 14, and the powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode shown in the left side ofFIG. 2E is located in the big square regions 15. In FIG. 9B, the gates12 of the power semiconductor structure are rectangular in shape todefine a plurality of rectangular regions 16 and 17 with differentwidth. Wherein, the power semiconductor structure shown in the rightside of FIG. 2E is located in the rectangular regions 17 with smallerwidth, and the power semiconductor structure with schottky diode shownin the right side of FIG. 2E is located in the rectangular regions 16with greater width.

The typical metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor processes can be easilyadapted to the above mentioned fabrication method of the powersemiconductor structure in accordance with the present invention. Inaddition, the related processes and equipments are well-established.Thus, the fabrication method provided in the present invention has theadvantages of low cost and high feasibility.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been setforth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosedembodiments of the present invention as well as other embodimentsthereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appendedclaims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of the present invention.

1. A power semiconductor structure with schottky diode comprising: asilicon substrate; at least a polysilicon gate structure and a firstpolysilicon structure, located on the silicon substrate and separated bya predetermined distance; at least a body, located in the siliconsubstrate between the polysilicon gate structure and the firstpolysilicon structure and partially shielded by the first polysiliconstructure; at least a source region, located in the body and partiallyshielded by the first polysilicon structure; a dielectric layer,covering the polysilicon gate structure and the first polysiliconstructure, and having an open extending downward to the siliconsubstrate below the body, wherein the source region is adjacent to theopen and a depth of the open is smaller than a greatest depth of thebody; and a metal layer, filled in the open.
 2. The power semiconductorstructure with schottky diode of claim 1, wherein the first polysiliconstructure is located on both sidewalls of the open.
 3. The powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode of claim 1, furthercomprising a heavily doped region located in the body and adjacent to asidewall of the open.
 4. The power semiconductor structure with schottkydiode of claim 3, wherein the heavily doped region is adjacent to boththe sidewall of the open and a bottom of the open.
 5. The powersemiconductor structure with schottky diode of claim 1, wherein thepolysilicon gate structure is located in a gate trench on the siliconsubstrate, and the first polysilicon structure is located on an uppersurface of the silicon substrate.
 6. The power semiconductor structurewith schottky diode of claim 1, wherein the open has an upper portionand a lower portion, and a width of the lower portion is smaller thanthat of the upper portion.